From Publishers Weekly

Clare’s lush historical romance takes readers to 1750s New York, where the three MacKinnon brothers, Jacobites sworn to free Scotland from British rule, have settled in exile. Iain MacKinnon and his two brothers, powerful Highland warriors trained in native American warfare, are falsely accused of murder and forced to take up the banner of their enemy King George in the French and Indian War. While on patrol, Iain rescues a Scots woman who calls herself Annie Burns from the French and Abenaki soldiers who raided her home. Annie, who hides a tragic past of family betrayal and indentured servitude, struggles with her newfound freedom and the mixed feelings she has for her saviors—so much like the Jacobite warriors who cut down her Loyalist father and brothers in battle. As Annie’s ambivalence gives way to love, Clare (Ride the Fire) explores 18th-century religious and political conflict on both a personal and international scale. While her prose s (more…)

From Publishers Weekly

The legions of readers who are hooked on the romantic struggles of Bella and the vampire Edward will ecstatically devour this third installment of the story begun in Twilight, but it’s unlikely to win over any newcomers. Jake, the werewolf met in New Moon, pursues Bella with renewed vigilance. However, when repercussions from an episode in Twilight place Bella in the mortal danger that series fans have come to expect, Jake and Edward forge an uneasy alliance. The plot patterns have begun to show here, but Meyer’s other strengths remain intact. The supernatural elements accentuate the ordinary human dramas of growing up. Jake and Edward’s competition for Bella feels particularly authentic, especially in their apparent desire to best each other as much as to win Bella. Once again the author presents teenage love as an almost inhuman force: “[He] would have been my soul mate still,” says Bella, “if his claim had not been overshadowed by something str (more…)

From Publishers Weekly

Australian author Arthur’s fast-paced fantasy-romance, the first in a new series, introduces part vampire, part werewolf Riley Jenson, who works for Melbourne’s Directorate of Other Races, as does her twin brother, Rhoan. When Rhoan goes missing, a naked yet powerful vampire, Quinn, appears on Riley’s doorstep and asks for her aid. Riley and Quinn team up to find Rhoan, investigate the mysterious deaths of Directorate agents and determine who’s been creating vampire and werewolf clones. Despite their mutual attraction, Quinn—once heartbroken by a werewolf lover—will never fully trust another werewolf, but that doesn’t stop him from helping Riley through the lust that engulfs werewolves in the days leading up to the full moon. Strong, smart and capable, Riley will remind many of Anita Blake, Laurell K. Hamilton’s kick-ass vampire hunter. While Arthur (Beneath a Rising Moon) occasionally loses control of her plot as she sets the stage for later (more…)

From Publishers Weekly

Themes from Patterson’s popular adult titles When the Wind Blows and The Lake House waft through this YA thriller, the author’s first in the genre. Wood stars as Maximum Ride, 14-year-old leader of a band of kids who have escaped the lab where they were bred as 98% human and 2% bird (wings being a key component) and developed a variety of other-worldly talents. In Patterson’s unusual universe, Max and her young cohorts are soon forced to rescue one of their own—a girl named Angel—from a pack of mutant wolf-humans called Erasers. Wood nails Patterson’s often adult-beyond-their-years dialogue with a jaded tone. But the result of this pairing makes Max sound more off-putting than cool or intriguing. The listening experience is stalled in the starting gate, keeping the action-adventure earthbound rather than high-flying. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fro (more…)